Shloka 1
इस प्रकार श्रीमहाभारत द्रोणपर्वके अन्तर्गत जयद्रथवधपर्वमें कौरव-सेनाके व्यूहका निर्माणविषयक सतासीवाँ अध्याय पूरा हुआ ॥/ ८७ ॥। ऑपन-- मा बछ। अकाल अष्टाशीतितमो<् ध्याय: कौरव-सेनाके लिये अपशकुन, दुर्मर्षणका अर्जुनसे लड़नेका उत्साह तथा अर्जुनका रणभूमिमें प्रवेश एवं शंखनाद संजय उवाच ततो व्यूकेष्वनीकेषु समुत्क्ुष्टेषु मारिष । ताड्यमानासु भेरीषु मृदज्गेषु नदत्सु च,संजय कहते हैं--आर्य! जब इस प्रकार कौरव-सेनाओंकी व्यूह-रचना हो गयी, युद्धके लिये उत्सुक सैनिक कोलाहल करने लगे, नगाड़े पीटे जाने लगे, मृदंग बजने लगे, सैनिकोंकी गर्जनाके साथ-साथ रणवाद्योंकी तुमुल ध्वनि फैलने लगी, शंख फूँके जाने लगे, रोमांचकारी शब्द गूँजने लगा और युद्धके इच्छुक भरतवंशी वीर जब कवच धारण करके धीरे-धीरे प्रहारके लिये उद्यत होने लगे, उस समय उग्र मुहूर्त आनेपर युद्धभूमिमें सव्यसाची अर्जुन दिखायी दिये
sañjaya uvāca | tato vyūheṣv anīkeṣu samutkṛṣṭeṣu māriṣa | tāḍyamānāsu bherīṣu mṛdaṅgeṣu nadatsu ca ||
Sañjaya said: “O noble one, when the battle-formations of the Kaurava host had been fully drawn up and the divisions stood arrayed, the war-drums were struck and the kettledrums and mṛdaṅgas resounded. Amid the swelling din that roused the warriors’ ardor for combat, the army’s readiness for violence became palpable—an outward order of ranks and instruments masking the inward surge of fear, pride, and resolve that precedes slaughter.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds how war begins with deliberate organization and collective excitation: formations are set, instruments thunder, and the mind is swept into readiness. Ethically, it hints at the tension between outward discipline (vyūha, anīka) and the inner moral peril of violence—how easily human agency is carried by momentum once the machinery of war is activated.
Sañjaya describes the Kaurava forces after their formations have been arranged. As drums and war-instruments are struck and resound, the army stands poised for combat, marking the immediate prelude to renewed fighting in the Drona Parva sequence.